Cambridge UK schools - St Bede's or Parkside?

[sassthirteen]

Can anyone in the Cambridge area with recent experience of Parkside Community College or St Bede's Inter-Church School help? Both look academically good (though the Ofsted reports are old for both places) -- but I'm also looking for a kind, supportive, encouraging community. Advice very welcome!

St Bedes, St Bedes, St Bedes. All the way. My eldest son went there and it is an excellent school. The pastoral care is second to none and the Head is a lovely man who genuinely cares about his students and his staff.

Eldest has just turned 18 by the way, so went relatively recently.

thank you!

I know parents with children at both who are happy. They have quite different approaches to lots of things including homework (loads at St Bedes, not so much at Parkside) setting (Parkside is mixed ability for all subjects until GCSEs). St Bedes do GCSEs over three years so they choose options in year 8, Parkside choose in year 9 and do the course over two years. St Bedes offer French and German (and Latin as a lunchtime club I think) but don't make children do a language if they are going to struggle. At Parkside everyone does French and they offer Spanish to the able linguists as an extra GCSE (also I think they offer Latin as an after school club). Everyone at St Bedes has to do Theology as a GCSE and they do have quite a Christian emphasis with a Chaplain and church attendance requirements to get in (Catholic or CofE).

St Bedes will offer to Christians first that's correct, but they will offer places to Jews and Muslims too. We are Muslim. They want students to come from believing families first and foremost.

Whether St Bede's offer places to those from other religions will depend on the number of applicants in a particular year. After "looked after" children, they admit Catholic/CoE children first, then other Christian denominations, then other faiths, and within each category it's done on siblings/distance. Quite often they only get as far as the Catholic/CoE children - in my village, the Catholic/CoE children often end up on the waiting list. Rysimo - you may have been lucky!

I have two at St Bede's (Y8 & Y11), and they are both happy (or as happy as you can expect teens to be about school!) Latin now offered as a GCSE, if you're interested. My neighbour's kids went to Parkside and thrived there.

I recommend you and get a tour of each.

Thank you (everyone). We went to the open days at both schools and both looked good. There seems to be a big focus on discipline at Parkside (lots of rules and punishments), where St Bede's didn't seem to need that. And I read a really negative online review of Parkside written very recently by a parent who'd also previously been a governor, saying - basically - don't send your child here. On the other hand Parkside is close to our home and St Bede's is a long way ...

Definitely not St Bede's if your child has any kind of SEN including anxiety. The brutality, the callousness in how they have treated a young person I know is simply shocking. Systemised ableism. Lack of kindness from individuals. No, no, no, no.

I should add that all the wonderful pastoral staff at St Bede's left a little while ago. Pretty much en masses.

If you live close to Parkside then St Bede's isn't really that far by bike or no 2 bus. Mine cycle about 3.5 miles each way; takes about 20 minutes.

Sadly a lot of able staff are leaving schools, and it will only get worse if there are further funding cuts.

My son minor SEN issues, extremely bright and able was in last yrs Yr11 at St Bede’s. The 2 ladies who ran learning support for many yrs retired. A not very clued up teacher who had a SEN overview and wasn’t great left in Feb 2022. It’s my understanding things have settled down with SEN since then, in fact all was well for my son after Feb 2022.

Parkside and the other schools that were in the Parkside Federation became part of a different academy trust about 2 yrs ago. The focus is discipline, uniform and so on. Parkside is fairing a bit better than Coleridge since the takeover. However, Google something like “Coleridge parents complaints” to find a local ITV news item in which a parent I know and her daughter detail why they left.

Parkside doesn’t have proper sports facilities on site, that can be a decider for some.

Regarding St Bede’s, the experience was very good for us. They have French, German and Latin. My son was able to do 2 languages. Many opted out of RE and a few out of doing a language. Most who did had some learning support needs. Opting out of RE is all well and good if what you can opt into instead is something as academic. The 2 we knew did Product Design instead.

One thing St Bede’s don’t do is brag. On GCSE results day there was no press. The philosophy is very much all abilities welcome and given appr support. Last yrs Yr 11 results were stunning and nearly everyone went on to their FE setting of choice.